Dramatic conflicts caused by the Fugitive Slave Act are central to Jacqueline Friedland’s excellent, thoroughly researched historical novel, The Stockwell Letters. The Fugitive Slave Act put all Black citizens at risk of kidnapping, even if they had been born free, causing many to exit the United States: “Nearly three thousand Negroes had crossed the border […]
October Read of the Month: “The Stockwell Letters” by Jacqueline Friedland
October 4, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Donna Meredith interviews Sheridan Brown, T. M. Brown, Charles M. Clemmons and Betsy Reeder about Civil War Era novels
September 19, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Four new Civil War Era novels were released this year. Southern Literary Review Editor Donna Meredith interviewed the authors to find out what similarities and differences there might be in their approaches to their subjects—and why they chose to write about them in the first place. Sheridan Brown’s novel, The Viola Factor, is based on […]
“Counting Souls” by Donald R. Buchanan
September 10, 2023 by 2 Comments
Tom Love, the protagonist of Donald R. Buchanan’s fine novel, Counting Souls, is a hardscrabble farmer in western North Carolina who is charged with collecting the 1830 Federal Census for Macon County. His job creates a situation like The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek and The Giver of Stars, where packhorse librarians had cause to go […]
September Read of the Month: “Sister, Mother, Warrior” by Vanessa Riley
September 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Vanessa Riley offers a stunning picture of Haiti’s history and founding through the eyes of several key women in her novel Sister Mother Warrior (William Morrow 2022). Riley’s superb research and careful crafting of characters bring the story of Haiti’s liberation from foreign rule to life. Riley, the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for […]
Donna Meredith interviews Tim Norbeck, author of “Almost Heaven”
August 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment
A Buffalo, New York, native who also spent over thirty years in Connecticut as the state medical society’s CEO, Tim Norbeck is an avid tennis player and history aficionado. He lives with his wife, Michele, and rescue dog, Trouper, in Bonita Springs, Florida. He began writing novels near his retirement and his first, Two Minutes, […]
July Read of the Month: “Deeper than African Soil” by Faith Eidse
July 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Deeper than African Soil (Masthof Press, 2023) by Faith Eidse is a most unusual and exceptionally fine memoir. No wonder Florida State University recognized it with the Kingsbury Award, given annually to a graduate student who demonstrates lasting intellectual value in writing, and with the English Department’s Ann Durham Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award. Several chapters […]